Proclamation Against Syria and Israel
1 Theburden against Damascus.
“Behold, Damascus will cease frombeinga city,
And it will be a ruinous heap.
2 The cities ofAroerareforsaken;
They will be for flocks
# Which lie down, andno one will makethemafraid.
3 The fortress also will cease from Ephraim,
The kingdom from Damascus,
And the remnant of Syria;
They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,”
Says theLordof hosts.
4 “In that day it shall come to pass
Thatthe glory of Jacob will wane,
# Andthe fatness of his flesh grow lean.
5 It shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain,
And reaps the heads with his arm;
It shall be as he who gathers heads of grain
In the Valley of Rephaim.
6 Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it,
Like the shaking of an olive tree,
Twoorthree olives at the top of the uppermost bough,
Fourorfive in its most fruitful branches,”
Says theLordGod of Israel.
7 In that day a man willlook to his Maker,
And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
8 He will not look to the altars,
The work of his hands;
# He will not respect what hisfingers have made,
Nor the wooden images nor the incense altars.
9 In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken bough
And an uppermost branch,
Which they left because of the children of Israel;
And there will be desolation.
10 Because you have forgottenthe God of your salvation,
And have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold,
Therefore you will plant pleasant plants
And set out foreign seedlings;
11 In the day you will make your plant to grow,
And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish;
Butthe harvestwillbea heap of ruins
In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people
# Whomake a noiselike the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
Thatmake a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
# ButGodwillrebuke them and they will flee far away,
# Andbe chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 Then behold, at eventide, trouble!
Andbefore the morning, heisno more.
Thisisthe portion of those who plunder us,
And the lot of those who rob us.